A Second Chance
by Kinetsu
Summary: What happens when Naomi Misora isn't killed by Kira, and instead joins the task force? And when Beyond Birthday escapes from jail with the help of 3 not so mysterious individuals... What will he do? Will he help to catch Kira, or will he try and use him to kill L, claiming revenge for being locked up? Please review!
1. Unravelling

The members of the taskforce stared.

Natural black hair that was in a tangled mass on his head; he had perfected the 'just got out of bed' look.

He wore a plain white shirt, faded jeans that were slightly too big for him, and hadn't bothered with shoes, or even socks for that matter.

He was a young man, whose porcelain skin was marred with dark shadows that rested just under his big dark, deep-set eyes. The bottomless lustrous darkness of his gaze pierced each man with shocking intensity.

He was thin and reasonably tall if he did not have his back curved into a slouch, which made him appear considerably shorter than he would otherwise have been.

The man kept his hands in his pockets. He raised his right foot, which he used to rub his other leg gingerly.

"I am L", he muttered; his voice as soft and articulate as it had been through the voice filters, albeit a little deeper.

"Hm... He's nothing like what I thought he'd be," whispered Matsuda under his breath.

L scratched his head and looked away, sheepishly.

One by one, the members of the taskforce held up their ID, stating their own respective names.

"I'm Yagami, of the NPA."

"Uh…Matsuda!"

"I'm Aizawa."

"Mogi."

"Ah, Ukita."

"I'm very sorry we're late-"

L raised his thumb and extended his index finger, mimicking a gun, which he pointed at the taskforce.

"Bang…bang...bang…bang...bang...bang"

Matsuda blinked in surprise.

"What the hell was that for?" growled Aizawa.

L stared at the Chief with hard, unblinking eyes. "If I were Kira you'd be dead, Chief Yagami of the NPA. All Kira needs is a name and face in order to kill someone, but I'm sure you've already figured that much out, haven't you. Please do not give out your names so carelessly. Instead… Let's value our lives."

He turned around, and skulked into another room of the hotel suite.

Matsuda glanced at the Chief. "I knew he needed a face to kill someone, but I can't remember any evidence showing he needed a name, too…"

"There's no way to verify if this is related, but criminals whose names were never released publicly, or whose names had been spelt incorrectly in the media have not been targeted. We briefly went over it at one of our meetings." The older man replied.

"That's enough small talk for now, come this way," called L from the other room. "Please turn off all your cell phones, handhelds, and any other communication devices, and leave them on the table in front of you."

"What, do you think we're gonna be using our cell phones during this meeting to leak information?" accused Aizawa indignantly.

"No, I just find them distracting. I can't stand it when people's cell phones are ringing while I'm trying to talk."

L clambered into a big armchair, on which he crouched, hugging his knees, causing his back to curve even more. His toes dug into the edge of the seat, gripping it in an almost bat-like manner.

"Let me start by saying that nobody is to take notes on anything that is said during these meetings. That means when we leave headquarters, any information we need is committed to memory." The group of men stared at L's bizarre way of sitting. His oddities were certainly beginning to pile up. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

The taskforce made their way around a big, but low table, sitting in the various seats that had been scattered around it. At L's end of the table sat a china teacup and teapot, a small silver spoon, and a large pile of sugar cubes. The rest of the table was completely unoccupied.

He watched each detective intently, pouring himself a cup of tea in an intricate china cup. He didn't offer any to any of the other investigators; he was almost unaware of their presence. He sipped at his drink and pulled a face.

"E-Excuse me, L?" Matsuda asked, watching the strange man as he plopped sugar cube after sugar cube in his tea.

"Mm, from now, for all of our safety, I'm going to have to ask that you stop calling me L. Um…let's see you may Ryuzaki for now on."

"Uh… ok, Ryuzaki…if we know that he needs a name and a face to kill, couldn't we cut down the number of victims by just keeping criminals names from the news?"

"If we do that, we'll only be putting the general public at risk." He stirred his drink.

"The general public? Why…?"

L looked up. "Kira is childish, and he hates losing."

"But how do you-"

"Just what do you mean?" the Chief interrupted.

"Well…" L looked into his cup, the brown liquid still steaming. "I am also childish, and I hate to lose. That's how I know." He stated, matter-of-factly.

"Ryuzaki. Would you mind being a little more specific with us?" Mr. Yagami raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Early on in the investigation, I tried to provoke Kira with that broadcast. Up until then we thought that Kira would only go after criminals, but as we all witnessed, he didn't hesitate to kill my stand in. Also, as soon as I said he was in the Kanto region, in defiance, he made sure his next victims came from within Japan, as if to say, 'and what're you going to do about it."  
Ryuzaki swallowed a sip of tea. "He's met all of my challenges head on, and he's never missed an opportunity to return the favor. Now, what do you think would happen if we tried to use media restrictions to hide criminals from someone like that?"

"Um…"

"I guess…"

L sighed.

"If you choose to withhold the names of your worst criminals, I'll kill petty criminals or the innocent. I'm holding the whole world hostage, so who's it going to be? I'm not the evil one here- but all those who oppose me by hiding criminals; you are truly evil."  
Ryuzaki sighed again. "That's exactly how Kira thinks. In any case, let's see how else we can use the media to draw him out."

The men were stunned. "But… how?"

"How about something like this…" He looked up at the ceiling. "The death of the FBI agents infuriated the US. The latest killings anger the international policing community and the nations agree to send fifteen hundred investigators to Japan. For Kira, this will be beyond what he faced with the FBI. He'll see everyone as a potential threat. Psychologically that'll make him feel cornered, and that'll cause him to take some sort of drastic action."

"Wow… That's interesting!" Ukita piped up.  
"Since none of these investigators exist, he won't be able to kill them… It just might work!" added Aizawa.

"Well before we celebrate, I'll tell you the rest of my thoughts on the Kira case." L cut in, somewhat impatiently; the other men nodded in agreement.

"Kira works alone. He had access to all our classified information…" He bit his thumbnail. "Kira needs a face and a name to kill; and he can determine the time of death and to some extend control the victims' actions before dying… We already know that much. Please keep it in mind, and listen carefully to what I have to say next." He uncapped a permanent black marker.

"On December 14th, 12 FBI agents enter Japan." He scribbled his musings on to the table. "Here we are on December 19th.

"Using prison inmates, Kira performs experiments, controlling manipulating his victims' actions before they die. In other words, during these 5 days, Kira becomes aware of the FBI and obviously felt threatened…because he didn't know any of their names or faces he was at a disadvantage. He needed to know how much control he had over his victims before he could use it against the 12 agents.

"As we all know, on December 27th, he obtained a file containing all the names and faces of the FBI agents currently in Japan, and he succeeded in killing every one of them. During this period, to the best of our knowledge, at least 23 individuals died of heart attacks, but these victims were different from Kira's previous targets. They were all alleged criminals, ex-convicts, or suspects in on-going investigations- so legally speaking they were innocent.

"What this indicates is that…Kira had to manipulate these lesser criminals in order to kill those FBI agents. He killed that many people so that we'd be unable to tell the decoys from those who were actually used. In truth, he probably only needed a few. He waited 8 days so the FBI could investigate other suspects, which means there'd be no timeline linking him to their deaths.

"I suspect Kira had to be one of the people being investigated by the FBI between the 14th and the 19th of December. In fact I have no doubt."

Ryuzaki stopped scribbling and delicately placed the lid back onto the marker. He picked up a pile of papers from the floor and placed them neatly in the centre of the table.

"These are documents provided by the FBI. They contain additional information you may find useful. For obvious reasons you are not permitted to take these out of this room, but-"

"Amazing! There may only be five of us but with this, much information we should be able to cover a lot of ground! There weren't that many people who had access to information from headquarters; and of those, the FBI only investigated a small group in the first five days!"

L glared at Matsuda. "So, does anyone have any questions?" he asked sarcastically.

"Actually, Ryuzaki, I do have one question for you." It was the Chief. "And it pertains to what you said earlier about how you said you hate to lose. Does the fact that you have shown us your face mean you've lost? By just being here, are you admitting defeat to Kira?"

L gazed into the distance. "That's right. By showing my face to you now and by sacrificing the life of 12 FBI agents, I have lost the battle, but I'll win in the end.

This is the first time I've ever put my life on the line. I want to show Kira that we're all willing to risk our lives if that's what it takes,"

For the first time since the men's arrival, L genuinely smiled; it was the kind of smile that was rare, but brightened his face to a considerable degree- the way a child might smile after being given candy. "And that justice will prevail no matter what."

"Hey yeah, that's right!"

"I like the sound of that!"

"We can do this Ryuzaki!"

Chief Yagami sat in silence, watching the young man warmly.

Well, I had my doubts about whether it was really him at first, but there's no mistaking it. This man is L.

"Before we go any further, I have to be absolutely sure that none of you are Kira. So I'll need to speak to each of you individually before you leave today."

"What's the deal, he still doesn't trust us?" grunted Aizawa.

"No, I think it's a fair request." The Chief cut in. "Try to see it from his perspective. Kira's been getting information from our headquarters from the very beginning, so there's a good chance that he's one of us."

L walked over to the window, eyes roaming over the city.

'Just one clue… A single decisive factor is all I need…we cannot let him get away' thought L

The members of the taskforce watched him.

"The Chief's right. Working this case has given us the chance to see him in person," agreed Matsuda.

"He's risking his life to be here…" admitted Aizawa.

It was still dark out, but dawn would be breaking in just a couple of hours. L turned around sharply. "Come to think of it… Who's at the police station right now?" He asked the Chief.

"Actually… No one's there at the minute."

"That's not good news… We need someone there at all times, work in shifts if you have to."

"I understand. Aizawa, I'll put you in charge of that for now."

"Yes sir! I'm on my way, won't take me long." He stood up to leave.

"Hold on… it would be preferable if you left after I've spoken to you. I don't believe that you're Kira, but we cannot afford to take any risks, no matter how small it may be."

Aizawa grudgingly agreed, and when the interrogation was over, he headed out.


	2. Unravelling, part 2

Light stretched out on his bed, staring into nothingness. He was tired.

"You already finished studying?" asked the Shinigami.

"I guess." I'll be fine. I haven't missed anything. The biggest risk I've taken so far has been that bus jacking incident… But they'll never be able to connect it with Kira. Fortunately, neither the police nor L knows that I can kill by other means than a heart attack. However, if anyone were to discover that fact, I'd be in a lot of trouble.  
-Downstairs -  
"Whaaat? Does it have to be now?" Sayu complained, looking up at her mother from the sofa.

"Your father's been pulling all-nighters with no change of clothes; so you're going to bring these to him."

"But Mom! I totally promised my friends I'd go out with them today!" She pleaded.

Light walked into the room. "Why don't I go? I could use a break."

"Thanks Light! I owe you one next time." The girl munched on a potato chip happily.

•••

"So I guess this'll give you the chance to spy on the police, right?" Ryuk guessed, towering over Light.

"I won't go further than the reception desk." Light tore a page from the notebook, and folded it in half.

"Ooh, you're bringing a page… Planning to kill someone?"

"No, but lately I've been bringing a page with me everywhere I go, just in case."

•••

Naomi stood on the train, lost in thought.

That day… Raye said he was planning to go to Shinjuku. That same day, 4 people died of heart attacks in the Shinjuku area. And… there was the bus jacking… There's no way it was a coincidence.

She walked up to the police station.

Then the Idea hit her. "That's it! It doesn't HAVE to be a heart attack… Kira can kill in other ways!"

•••

"The voicemail customer you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. To leave a message-"

Light snapped his phone shut, and walked towards the station.

That's unusual for Dad… I wonder if he's in a meeting right now.

He walked through the station doors, and saw a woman speaking with the receptionist. She was pretty, and had long dark hair.

"Please. I need to speak directly with someone from the special investigation taskforce. It's urgent!"

"I'm sorry but I can't help you. There's no one at taskforce headquarters right now." apologized one of the receptionists.

"Can't you contact them somehow? I have important information concerning the Kira investigation."

Light frowned, at tried to listen in more closely without seeming suspicious.

"Look, I'll call headquarters one more time for you." The man obliged, grudgingly.

Light walked up to the desk, and handed a bag of clothing to the free receptionist.

"Hi, I'm detective Soichiro Yagami's son, Light Yagami. I brought my father a change of clothes, but… it doesn't look like he's in. Can I leave them here?"

The other receptionist spoke to someone who had clearly picked up the phone, and turned to the woman. "It seems I was mistaken. A detective arrived at headquarters just 15 minutes ago and forgot to check in. I'm awfully sorry for the confusion. If you'd like I could lead you to the investigation headquarters?"

"Thank you so much." The woman bowed slightly, smiled and followed the man up a large staircase.

The other receptionist grinned at the boy.

"Sure, I'll take the bag. Hey, I haven't seen you in a while, Light."

"Oh… I'm sorry… Uh…"

"What, you don't remember? You helped solve the insurance fraud murder investigation! Sometime last year, but hey, no one remembers a receptionist, do they."

"Oh, I'm sorry… I'm terrible with faces! By the way… Did you happen to catch that woman's name?"

The receptionist laughed. "Yeah, I think she said her name was Shoko Maki…She was very pretty, but really Light, shouldn't you be looking for a girl your own age?" the receptionist joked, and winked at the boy.

Maki, I cannot do anything about her just yet; it'll seem suspicious if she dies right after I get her name. Besides, she might not even be a threat, but I'll need to keep that name in mind just in case. More importantly, I need to figure out what she knows.

•••

Naomi stepped into the Kira investigation HQ. It was been deserted, save for one man, who was lazily flicking through some files. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair and clothes were a mess; he must have been up all night.

"Excuse me…" She walked towards the man. "You're part of the Kira investigation taskforce, right?"

He yawned, and raised his head.

"Sure, I'm Shuichi Aizawa. And you are…?"

"My name is Shoko Maki. I have important information I'd like to share with you, but I need to speak to L directly."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "L? I don't mean to be rude, but why would he talk to you? He's a very suspicious man, not quick to trust people… If you like I could pass the message on to him?"

She girl shook her head. "That's not good enough- I really need to speak with him in particular. I'm sure he'll listen to what I have to say… I've worked under him in the past."

She was being very vague about whom she was, and the man noticed this. She was obviously a very careful person. In that respect, she even reminded him of L a bit.

"Well… I can't promise anything, but I'll try to establish a connection with him."

She looked at him in shock as he fiddled with his belt's buckle, and backed away a few steps, getting the wrong idea. "Um, sir…"

He stopped, and pulled a cell phone from his pocket.

•••

"I apologize for questioning all of you like that, but I'm afraid I had no choice. I've determined that Kira is not among us." L leant his cheek into his hand.

"Ryuzaki, how can you be certain that none of us are Kira?" enquired the Chief.

"Well… To be honest, from the beginning I set a number of traps that would reveal if any of you were Kira, but after speaking with you one on one, I don't feel the need."

His cell phone started ringing. "Excuse me." He pulled it out and answered it, dangling it in front of his ear, much like one would hold a dirty sock- yet he managed to do so much more elegantly. The others grumbled at his hypocrisy.

"Understood. I'm just about finished here anyway. You've got the key so let yourself in." He ended the call and turned to the curious men. "Watari is on his way."

•••

The door opened quietly, and Watari walked into the room, removing his top hat revealing a pale, wrinkled face and a big white moustache. He was wearing a neat suit and tie that matched the hat's style.

"Gentlemen, it's an honor to meet all of you. I'm terribly sorry for the wait, I had urgent business to attend to. However, before we begin, I must speak with Ryuzaki."

L raised his head curiously. 'Watari was never late… What had happened?'

The old man walked into another room, and L jumped out of the armchair. "Please excuse us for a moment. Feel free to go over the documents I provided you with earlier."

The men blinked in surprise, as L followed Watari through the door to the bedroom.

The bed, pushed into a corner, covered in dirty plates and sweet wrappers. Other than that, the only item in the room to be seen was L's computer, which had been placed in the center of the room, on the floor.

Watari turned to face the young man.

"L. As you instructed, I dropped off the belt and fake ID for Aizawa early this morning, leaving a note to explain what was going on. Just 10 minutes after I called you, I received an emergency signal from his belt. I called him back immediately, and he said a woman urgently needed to speak to you directly, he said her name was Shoko Maki.

However, upon further investigation I learned that she worked with you on a case a few years ago. More specifically, the LA BB murder case. I took the liberty of going to the HQ and meeting her myself, however she still would not agree to divulge what she knew. Therefore, I brought her here. She was extremely persistent." The man sniffed.  
"She's waiting in the lobby now. Obviously I couldn't simply bring her up here without your consent."

L chewed on his fingernail, taking this in. "I see. Well it would be rude to keep her waiting. I'll go meet her; I need to get used to actually going places myself now anyway."

Watari understood- L wasn't exactly the most sociable of people, and he became awfully anxious in public places; though he hid it well. His act didn't fool Watari though; he's known the boy since he was merely 8 years old, and he knew him well.

"I see. In the meantime, I'll take care of the taskforce, and give them the items as you requested."

Watari walked back into the other room. L was about to follow suit; but something caught his eye. He walked over to the bed and carefully picked up a lollypop, sticking it in his mouth. He delicately held the stick between his thumb and index finger. It was orange flavored. He walked out of the room and to the main entrance of the suite, ignoring the taskforce's watchful eyes as he departed.


	3. Revelation

Naomi sat in the lobby, lost in her novel, when she felt someone watching her. She looked up, and blinked. A hunched man was standing there, hands in his pockets, disheveled hair partially covering his big eyes. He was sucking on a lollypop.

Something was eating away at the back of her mind… It felt like she was missing something.

"Ah… Can I help you?"

"Naomi Misora. It's a pleasure to see you again."

And then it hit her. She jumped out of the couch and dropped her book.

"But… But you were burned! You went to jail; you were given a life sentence! How…How did you…?"

L cocked his head to one side. "Miss. Misora, I believe you must have me confused with someone else our friend, Beyond, who is indeed in jail. I'm surprised you didn't jump to this conclusion the first time we met actually but I wander." He twirled the lollipop in his fingers.

Naomi frowned and picked up her book, quickly regaining her composure.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Ryuzaki… But I'll let you in on a secret," he looked around the room suspiciously, and pulled out the sweet from his mouth. He took a few steps closer to her… "The truth is… I'm L." He popped the sucker back into his mouth as he took a step back; awaiting her reaction.

"You… are L?"

"I am L."

She stared at him.

"To be honest, I thought you'd remember me, seeing as you nearly put me in hospital." The man murmured, but he didn't look bothered by it.

And then it hit her, a second time.

"You're the one who assaulted me!" she gasped. L raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose I'll have to accept we have differing opinions on the matter. At any rate, we must get to business. I'll take you to headquarters." He glanced at the woman. "Oh… and Miss Misora, I'm truly sorry for your loss."

The girl looked away, her face almost expressionless.

However, L wasn't easy to fool and from the moment he'd seen her, he'd noticed a profound sadness in her eyes. She'd been damaged, but, as expected, she was trying to be strong.

Naomi fixed her eyes on the detective's back as they made their way through the hotel.

This man he MUST be who he says he is. Otherwise, there's no way he could've known so much about me and my past and he knew about Raye. Besides, I trust him. Although, I cannot help but wonder why does he look so much like BB?

•••

Matsuda adjusted his trousers, grinning profusely. "Whoa! I feel like some kind of secret agent or something!"

"Matsuda! This is no time to be joking around!" The Chief scolded.

"Sorry Chief…" He hung his head.

The door opened, and L and Naomi walked in.

"Hm. Everyone, this is Miss. Maki."

Naomi glanced at him gratefully. Ever since her fiancée's death, she was being especially careful about giving out her true name, and she was glad the young man had respected her wishes.

"She has information regarding the Kira case, so I believe it would be wise to listen carefully to what she has to say. She's worked under me in the past; she's a very capable detective."

The others sat around the table curiously, watching the new arrival.

She looked around the array of faces, and received a reassuring smile from Matsuda.

L climbed back into his armchair, and Watari went over to stand at his right.

Naomi sat in what had been Aizawa's chair, and began to discuss her theory.

"As I'm sure you all know, on December 27th, Kira murdered the 12 FBI agents who had come to Japan to help solve the Kira case. My fiancé, Raye Penber, was among them…"

She paused as the members muttered their condolences, Matsuda close to tears.

"That's… that's so tragic… Like Romeo and Juliet…" said Matsuda  
The Chief gave him a warning glance.

"Anyway…That day, Raye said he was planning to take the train to Shinjuku. That same day, 4 people died of heart attacks in the Shinjuku area, and… there was the bus jacking…"

"Bus jacking?" asked the Chief.

"About a week before he died, Raye had been instructed to investigate someone. He could not tell me who, but he was sure he wasn't suspicious. On the last day of his investigation, he got on the bus, following the suspect, and the bus was hijacked.

He didn't tell me much else about the situation, but he did say that he'd been put in a position in which he had to show his ID to someone.

Eventually, the hijacker jumped off the bus and hit by a car, dying instantly.

What if Kira can not only determine the time of death…But the victims' actions leading up to it…?" She glanced across at L, handing him the newspaper cutting about the bus incident. She was worried that the others would not believe a word of her theory- that is why she needed L to be there. To her surprise however, Matsuda jumped up.

"That's exactly what L said! This is amazing, you think just like- Oh. Sorry Chief…"

Reassured, Naomi continued.

"But that's not all. I believe Kira used the hijacker in order to get Raye's name, and then the hijacker died- struck by a car. Based on this it suggests that Kira can kill in other ways. It doesn't have to be a heart attack."

The room was silent. L pulled the lollypop stick out of his mouth, and placed it next to the empty teacup. He slowly rubbed his thumb against his bottom lip. Everyone turned to watch him, waiting for his opinion.

"That…would certainly explain a lot. Unfortunately, even though I believe that your deduction is flawless, this will complicate things. However, it'll also help narrow down the list of suspects considerably. In fact there are less than a dozen suspects left." His eyes flickered briefly to the Chief.

"Doesn't this mean we'll have to go over the entire list of deaths since the killings first started?" wondered Ukita, somewhat panicked.

"No, I don't believe so. As I have previously explained, Kira probably strives to become some sort of god-like figure. This is why he generally only kills using heart attacks- he wants to be noticed. I doubt he'll have used other means of killing more than once or twice; he doesn't want to arouse suspicion that he possesses this power, so he only does so when it's absolutely crucial."

"So… who are the suspects?"

"Raye Penber was assigned to 2 different police officers and those connected to him. But after Miss. Maki's testimony, we can cut it down to the one detective who lived close to the scene of the crime." He traced the newspaper article with his finger. "I believe the best course of action would be to place surveillance cameras and wiretaps throughout his house."

"Well, who is it?" asked Matsuda impatiently.

L's eyes stayed fixed on the cutting…"Super-Intendent Yagami and family."

The Chief's face darkened, but he remained silent, as the other members of the taskforce cried out defiantly.

"Out of respect for Mr. Yagami, only he and I will be conducting surveillance of his house. Watari, when can you have the equipment installed?"

"Ryuzaki, don't I at least get a say in this?" The Chief asked, through gritted teeth.

"Of course. However, I do believe surveillance is necessary to the case, and I-"

"Don't leave any blind spots. Make sure we can watch everything. And don't remove the cameras until you're sure my family isn't guilty."

"But Chief! You have a wife and daughter-"

"I'm well aware! I cannot say how offended I am at this, but if Ryuzaki is dead set on doing this, then I request that he at least be as thorough as possible."

"Very well…I'll be changing hotel tomorrow, so please await my instructions. Until then, please continue as you've been doing so far. You may inform the director about these meetings if you wish, but you are not to reveal what is said or done within these rooms."

The men got up to leave.

"Miss. Maki?" The Chief turned to the woman.

Naomi's eyes flickered up. She was sill seated.

"You're obviously a brilliant detective, as L- I mean, Ryuzaki- said, and I would like to know what your plans for the future are. If you're interested, I'd be honored to have you work with us on this case- that is, if you're willing to cooperate with us."

He turned to L, still glaring at him. "That would be ok with you, wouldn't it? We're already short on numbers as it is…"

"Of course, I think she will be a great help to us." He plucked a sugar cube from the table and popped it in his mouth.

"Really?" Naomi stood up, her eyes gleaming. "You're really going to let me join the taskforce?"

L didn't move, but his big eyes turned to stare at her. "If it's what you want. In fact as soon as Watari mentioned you were here I was intending to ask you to join us, but I was intrigued as to what the others would make of you."

"Well, now since Raye's gone… I do not have any reason to go back to America, and I'm unemployed, so… It would be an honor to work under you again."


	4. Surveillance

Light walked through the front door. No one was home yet. He trudged up the stairs and went to open the door to his room, but something was wrong. The piece of paper was still wedged in the door, but the pencil lead was broken- indicating that someone had been in his room. Normally, he'd assume it was his mom or someone, but they wouldn't bother putting the paper back in the door. Heck, they wouldn't even notice the paper.

"Hey, Light. Why're you just standing there doing nothing? You look like an idiot."

Light ignored Ryuk's taunting and walked into his room. He threw his bag onto his bed and pulled off his jacket.

"Oy, Light! Don't ignore me!"

Light continued to ignore him.

After an hour of studying and Ryuk prancing around the room like an idiot, Light picked up his coat and headed out. When they were a considerable distance from the house, he turned to Ryuk.

"Look, there's a strong possibility there are cameras and wiretaps placed throughout the house. That means I guess you won't be able to eat apples anymore…Unless you can find a blind spot."

"Wh-what?! No apples! But…no…you don't understand…Apples are to me what cigarettes and alcohol are to you humans… I even get withdrawal symptoms!"

"Withdrawal symptoms?"

"My body starts twisting in unnatural ways and I do handstands! Look, I'll show you-"

"Uh, that's ok Ryuk. I really don't need to see that. Anyway, I guess you'll just have to start searching for a blind spot then."

•••

L watched the screen. He was hugging his knees in a big green armchair, Mr. Yagami sitting beside… Albeit more conventionally. L was lapping on a pistachio flavored ice cream, and Watari walked over to hand him another one, as well as giving one to the Chief.

The rest of the Yagami family was at the table, save for Sayu who was drooling over Hideki Ryuuga, a famous Japanese actor. Sayu was practically clutching the TV, when a message popped up.

*ICPO: The nations angered by the death of FBI agents so the international police agencies decide to send 1500 investigators into Japan…*

"Wow! That sure is a lot of investigators…"

Light smirked.

"Pfft. They're bluffing. There's no point in that announcement; if they really were sending in that many investigators to Japan then there's no point in telling the world about it. They'd keep it a secret- they'd be more effective that way. It's just a futile attempt to trick Kira into revealing himself."

L watched, and scooped some ice cream up with his finger, which he licked.

"Your son is clever, Mr. Yagami."

The Chief glanced at him, nervously. "Well… Yes…"

"Hmm. I'd say about 10- no… more like 5%."

"Excuse me?"

L watched him warily. "Mm… 5% chance that Mr. Yagami's son, Light Yagami, is Kira."

A few days later…

(Soap-Fic by Citrine Nebulae. Used with permission. Go check her stuff out! Now! No, seriously, she's a brilliant writer!)

Light pushed his ragged bangs back from his eyes and his lips skinned back, showing his teeth. It was not a nice smile – it was exhaustion, satisfaction, and just the smallest touch of primal madness. He had spent the last six hours attempting to write names in the Death Note, but he had to be cautious because of L's cameras. With his potato chip trick, he'd only managed to write one name. It wouldn't be enough for L to withdraw from investigating him. Despite his lack of success, his body continued to degrade, and he knew a shower was inevitable. His hair was lank and greasy, and it would be suspicious of him not to take care of it. L was likely observing his patterns of behavior and since Light was always extremely manicured and put together. If he suspected that Light was ignoring it because of trauma and guilt, or merely his first priority being killing, then L would never remove the cameras.

So, sighing like he'd just spent a hard night studying, he pushed away from his desk and stood up to stretch. He started to walk out of the room.

"Hey, Light, where 'ya goin'?" Ryuk questioned drowsily from his corner of the room. Light, of course, didn't answer. He eased the door to his room open and stuck his head out into the dark hallway. It was late, and everyone was asleep, but the shower running probably would not bother them.

Light pulled a towel off a shelf in the closet and looped it over towel rack by the shower. Then, with a subtle grimace that came every time he was indecent and conscious of the cameras in the house, he stepped out of his clothes and into the shower.

He tried to get it over with quickly, hastily kneading shampoo into his hair and rinsing. He picked up the bar of soap and rubbed it between his palms. It slipped out of his hand and hit the wall, sliding down the edge of the tub. It settled by the drain. Light growled, annoyed, and started to reach for it, but stopped abruptly.

L likely had cameras in the corners of the bathroom. He might have cameras in the showerhead or the drain or hidden anywhere in the small space. Suddenly, bending down to retrieve the soap didn't seem so trivial anymore. Should he retrieve it to avoid suspicion of the fact that he knew cameras in the house? If he did, the shame would be unbearable. He pictured L watching the monitors. Perhaps he could find a way to pick it up with his feet? He could slowly nudge it up the wall with his foot, and then grab it. Would that be too obvious?

Light set his teeth and put his toes on the bar of soap, pushing it up the wall. It slipped out from underneath his foot almost instantly. He cursed inwardly. This wasn't going to work. He needed a plan: a plan that would require every ounce of his ingenuity.

He could just bite the bullet and do it.

No. He couldn't imagine a greater shame.

He could keep trying to push it up the wall with his foot. He might get lucky.

Deep down, he knew it'd never work.

He could sit down in the bathtub and grab it, then stand back up.

That would look ridiculous and suspicious.

Light cursed inwardly again. He couldn't call Ryuk to get it, because L would see a floating bar of soap. Anyways, there was no chance in hell that Light would ask Ryuk to get in the shower with him.

Light pretended to be occupied with scrubbing his upper body without soap, aware of how stupid he looked just standing there staring at the bar.

He rolled his shoulders, suddenly struck with an idea. He reached out with his foot and touched the bar of soap with his toes. Then, with a determined shout, he kicked the soap up. It flew up the tile, and Light made a wild grab for it. He lost his balance, and swayed on the spot, trying to regain it. He teetered dangerously, then went down sideways into the shower curtain. The shower rod pulled free as he fell. He landed heavily on the curtain outside the bathtub and tried to scoot away from the shower rod desperately.

His nose went horribly hot and fuzzy for a moment, and he realized it must've fallen right on his face. He reached for his nose and his hand came away red.

"Damn," he growled.

Then he remembered the situation.

He was lying on his back in the middle of the bathroom like a dead beetle, his nose bleeding, and the spray from the shower starting to wet the tiles and mirror.

And L was watching.

And the fucking soap was still sitting by the drain.

L rolled the lollipop to the other side of his mouth. It was his only physical response to the bizarre events that had occurred while Light Yagami showered.


	5. Beyond Bars

His eyes scanned the pages of the newspaper at an alarming rate. In less than 5 minutes, he had finished reading it. He focused his attention to the crossword puzzle, and snorted. What a joke… Even Mello could probably finish it in a matter of seconds.

He completed it anyway, using a gooey, sticky, red substance to fill in the little boxes.

He then licked the jam off the pages, and threw the paper into the corner of his padded cell.

He heard a noise coming from outside the room, and eased himself back into his straight jacket, which he had managed to take off, using only his teeth, after popping the small jar of strawberry jam into his pocket and squeezing the newspaper through the small window in the top of the room. After all, when he wasn't slouching, he was a lot taller than he looked.

He flicked his messy dark hair out of his eyes, and waited for the guards to drag him back to his regular cell. He only was put into the padded cell when he became a threat to the other prisoners- but this was a rare occurrence now. They all stayed well away from him.

Once he was back in his cell, and free of the straight jacket, he shut his eyes, mentally scanning the newspaper again.

Kira, Kira, Kira, Kira… That was all that they ever talked about now.

Maybe…maybe if he could solve it first, they would let him out of this retched place. He'd need help though, from someone on the outside.

He licked his lips.

Kira needed a face and a name.

If he could get hold of whatever Kira was using, he'd only need a face.

He already had a name.

No, he already had all the names; everyone's name; floating conveniently above their heads at his disposal.

Alternatively, perhaps this could help him catch the serial killer.

Yes, L had beaten him in the past, but he'd had help of Miss. Misora, and now, he had the entire police force helping him on this case.

If…If he could solve it before L, with maybe the help of, say, 3 people…

He'd get out…and he knew just the people who could help him.

He padded slowly to the door.

"I'd like to request to make a phone call." His soft voice murmured. "After all, during the couple years I've been here, I've never made one."

The man guarding his cell flinched uneasily. Beyond Birthday always gave him the creeps.


	6. Twists

L sighed. He really didn't see what else could be learned from watching the Yagami household. He still suspected Light Yagami- that much was certain- but he knew he wouldn't find anything to convict him this way.  
Kira was still killing, yet nothing suspicious was occurring. He glanced over to the Chief, who had fallen asleep beside him. Ryuzaki shrugged and turned back to the screens.

"Watari? How are the arrangements coming along for the new building?"

"Very well. It should be completed in a few days' time."

"Excellent. Thank you. And also… Watari?"

"What is it, Ryuzaki?"

"Do we have any sticky toffee pudding left?"

•••

Briiing briiiiiing, briiing briiiiiing, brii-

Roger snatched up the phone, sighing heavily.

"What is it?"

"Hello there, Roger. It's been a while. May I please speak to my successors?"

Roger froze. "L? Is that you?" He shifted uneasily in his chair, and started organizing the mess on his big oak desk, as he always did when he was nervous.

"That's correct. But please, enough small talk, I don't have long."

"Oh, of course! Of course, just…I'll be 2 minutes."

There was no mistaking that voice… Besides, no one in their right minds would pretend to be the world's top detective, not unless they had a death wish.

He scurried off to fetch the three teenagers.

Near fiddled with the rubix cube, solving it in a matter of minutes, before starting all over again. He glanced warily at the small iPod by his bed. He really wasn't the musical type, but Linda had insisted he listen to some music to help improve his creative ability. He groaned and padded over, popping the earphones in, and switching it on.

At least she'd let him choose the music.

Humming along quietly to the nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky, he returned to his toys, this time carefully selecting an array of robots and action figures.

He was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

Mello flicked through the pages of a playboy magazine, snapping of pieces of chocolate before letting it melt in his mouth.

Matt was furiously hitting the buttons on his DS, eyes glued to the screen through his orange tinted goggles.

"Hells yeah!" The teenager smirked. "Suck on that, losers!"

Mello turned over. "What you playing?"

"Mario Kart, online version." He sniggered. "My current win streak- 81. I would be in the triple digits if someone hadn't tripped over me when practicing his new dance routine." Matt pulled a face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Look, for one. It's not dance, it's Capoeira- and for your information that is what L uses, so… it's not exactly pansy stuff, and second. I already apologized for that like a bazillion times, and I mean it's not like you lost- you came in 2nd place, and only by a tiny bit!"

"Yeah, whatever you say, princess Melly!" The redhead laughed, but stopped abruptly as the blonde pounced on him, whacking him with a pillow.

"Got a death wish, punk?" He growled, but Matt just laughed harder.

A sudden knock at the door stopped the two in their tracks.

The three boys crowded around the phone in Roger's office. Roger had gone to terrorize some students who were fighting in the cafeteria, telling them only that L was on the phone, wanting to speak to them urgently.

Mello picked up the phone, holding it far away enough from his ear so that Matt could listen in. Frankly he didn't care whether the 13 year old could hear, he didn't even like being in the same room as him.

"L? It's Mello. Matt and… Near is here too." He pulled a face at having to call Near by his real name.

There was silence on the line.

"…L?"

The boys looked at each other in confusion.

"BOO!"

Mello dropped the phone in alarm.

Matt blinked in surprise, tearing his eyes away from the console.

Near simply fiddled with his hair, and picked up the phone.

"Hello, B."

"Henh henh henh henh. Sharp as always, Sheepy."

Near's eye twitched in annoyance at the nickname.

"What do you want?" Near already had a pretty good idea of what he wanted, but hoped he was wrong…

"I need you kiddies to help me out. I'm sure it won't be difficult for Matt to do his tech-y thing, and I'm not going to pretend I don't know about Mello's, ah, toys, and of course, what you've got under that fluffy wool of yours will be necessary."

The three looked at each other. The message was excruciatingly obvious, but the guards monitoring the conversation probably wouldn't pick up on it. Beyond Birthday wanted to break out of jail, and he needed their help…

"And we should offer you our assistance why?"

But Mello snatched the phone off him. "We'll help you. Just tell us where and when."

"Good man, Blondie. I knew you'd help out. You can send me the jam in 3 days' time. I'm sure that'll be more than enough time to find the right brand of jam. I'm in the highest security prison to be found in Japan. Cell number 676."

The phone beeped, signaling that the call was over.

Near looked up at the blonde.

"Mello…If you do this there's no way L will ever pick you over me. You do realize that, don't you?"

Mello shrugged. "You'll be helping too. It's not like they can pinpoint the blame on me."

Near twirled his hair between his index finger and thumb. "Why do you even want to help him? He's a serial killer now. Besides, where do you get the idea I'm actually going to help you?"

Mello looked down.

"Don't you get it Near? I guess not… You've always been so perfect. But…B's just like me, in a way…"

"You mean his strange food addictions?"

Mello glared at him.

"No. I mean he was the second choice. He was only going to be L's successor 'cause A committed suicide. He was never good enough to make the cut himself. He wasn't good enough, and the pressure eventually broke him. It wasn't his fault… If he'd never been put in this damn house he could've lived a normal life, had a normal future, no one expecting anything of him…" Mello looked away. He hadn't meant to say so much. "And if you don't help I'll break your toys."

Near's eye twitched. "You wouldn't."

"Wanna bet?"

For the first time since the call, Matt glanced up from his PSP.

"What did B mean by your 'toys', anyway?"

Near smirked. "It seems he knows about Mello's pistols."

Matt blinked. "How'd he find out about that? He only nicked them a few months ago… Wait, how do you know about them?"

Near just smiled creepily. Mello had to repress a shudder.

"We've only got 3 days. We should get started on formulating a plan."

•••

Naomi looked at the brand new badge in her hands; it gleamed in the light. Of course it was fake, and she wasn't even a real police officer- joining the NPA would mean revealing her real name- but Watari would be paying her a considerable amount each month to help on the case, so that wasn't a problem.

She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of leather pants, a dark shirt, and a leather jacket, in which she pocketed the fake police ID which Watari had brought her earlier this morning, as well as the emergency belt. As she was fixing up the buckle, she noticed something glitter in the light.

Her ring.

She still had it on.

She froze, tears spilling down her face.

She ran to the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was a mess, her face blotchy, her eyes red.

Weakness.

That's all she saw.

Naomi brushed away her tears, and took a deep breath.

That's the last time I'll cry. I need to find a way to move on…A fresh start…a new beginning. I'll start by moving out of this stupid hotel.

She took another breath, sorted out her hair and face as best she could, before she shoved the ring as far into her pocket as it would go.


	7. Misjudgement

Mello cracked his knuckles. "Everyone ready?" he whispered.

It was 1am, and the three boys gathered in Mello and Matt's room, since most of the other students were sleeping.

The room was very dark, but the glow of an array of strategically placed handheld game consoles lit up the boys' faces. Each one was equipped with a small rucksack containing the bare necessities. (Well, what each of the orphans' considered being necessities at least. Near had chosen a selection of toys to bring along, Mello had taken a large stash of chocolate goodies. Matt, however, had only packed what he knew he needed- though in this case he actually did need his DS- it could provide adequate lighting for large amounts of time, as it was now.)

"So let's go over the basic plan one last time… Matt deactivates the security system-"

"Already done that, Near. Geez, keep up." Matt joked, grinning at the white haired boy.

"Uh… Right. That was quick. So, we sneak out, Mello breaks into Roger's car, drives to the London Heathrow airport which is around 45 minutes away, we board the plane using fake IDs that Mello "acquired" – honestly Mello I don't know how you keep getting these illegal things but you need to be careful-"

"Yeah yeah, don't bother with the lecture, sheep; just carry on with the plan," muttered Mello

"Oh… right, I bought some plane tickets earlier with one of Roger's credit cards, we're boarding the 3am plane, so we'll arrive at Tokyo at 3pm. The prison is located in the countryside surrounding Tokyo, so we'll book a hotel- again using the fake IDs- and get a taxi to the jail, but that's beside the point. As long as we can make it that far, everything will go smoothly… Though I doubt we'll get that far. There's so much that could go wrong…"

"Roger could easily find out exactly where we're going at any given moment by checking his credit card details and latest purchases, and considering you bought the plane tickets with a fake name, and will be using that same name to book into the Japanese hotel, he'll also be able to find out where we're staying. Also, I can't deactivate the alarm in Rogers car from the outside, so you'll have to get the key. Also, I doubt any taxi would take us to the prison, we'd probably have to rent a car, but that's impossible as there's no way we could pass for being over 17. Also-"

"Jesus Matt! Cut it out! You can be a real downer sometimes you know that…" Mello grumbled, but Matt just laughed.

"Look, I'll go get the car keys, you finish reading the driving manual. Shouldn't take you long, you've only got 623 pages left- don't look at me like that, last time you tried driving you crashed into a lamppost after just 10 minutes. Anyway, as soon as you're done we'll leave, that way we should get to the airport at like half past two."

The others nodded in agreement. "What about me?"

"Um… You can… guard the bags. Make sure we have everything we need so we can leave as soon as Mello's done."

Near started searching through the rucksacks dutifully, careful not to touch Mello's chocolate. He did value his life, after all.

"Ok. I'm going." Matt pulled the goggles out of his eyes. He needed to see as well as possible. He grabbed his small glow in the dark Pikachu plushy, and headed for the door.

Less than 60 seconds after he'd left the room, there was a squeal and a loud clatter, which echoed through the corridor and Matt, barged back in the room, tugging a disgruntled Linda by the hand.

"She was lingering outside of Near's door." He explained. "Look, I really don't have time to stick around and find out why she was wandering around at 1 in the morning, so… I dunno, deal with her. I'll go get the keys. See ya." He winked at Linda, who frowned.

He padded back out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Mello and Near glanced at each other.

"Um… Hey Near, Mello. I don't know what's going on here but whatever it is there was no reason for Matt to treat me that way…" She folded her arms defiantly. "I was only going to see if Near was asleep. I know you're having problems sleeping at the moment so I was going to bring you a glass of milk… But Matt kind of attacked me and I spilt it everywhere… Sorry. But anyway- what's going on? What's with the rucksacks? And what's Matt doing looking for keys?"

Mello sighed. "Oh great, problems before we've even started."

Near looked up at the girl, "That was very considerate of you. However, I don't require your assistance. Thank you. Please go back to bed, and don't tell anyone about this. I'll clean up the milk."

"But Near-"

The white-haired boy stood up and faced Linda. She was about half a head taller than him, so he looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

"Please, Linda. You must understand. It's of utmost importance."

"Near, whatever you're doing, I can tell it's dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt or-"

The boy reached up and kissed her on the cheek, and gripped her hand.

"You're very kind. Please go now."

Linda went bright red, and tried to stammer an argument, but failed miserably, so instead just nodded and was about to head back to her room. "Oh… And… um… Near… Could you… Take the iPod?"

He agreed, and she left, just as Matt came back.

"Oh hey Linda… Are you ok? You don't look so good…" Linda didn't reply, instead made her way back to her room. Once she was inside, she shut the door behind her, frowning.

As long as Matt doesn't touch the iPod then it'll keep tracking their location… I doubt Near will realize.

She touched her cheek. She certainly hadn't expected him to resort to that. Not that she minded. Though she had felt slightly insulted that they thought a kiss could actually mess up her mind that much. They had underestimated her intelligence and her acting skill… She was a student at Wammy's, after all.

•••

The engine purred, coming to life. Mello gripped the wheel firmly, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face in concentration. Matt pressed a button on the garage wall, and the doors slid open. He jumped into the car.

"Okay. Let's go!"

•••

Light stretched. It had been a long day. He clambered up the stairs, opened his bedroom door- And stopped dead in his tracks. Something- no, someone was on his bed.

A pair of large dark eyes looked up at him from under a mass of glossy black hair.

He sat, in an almost squatting, gargoyle-like position, holding each of his knees with the corresponding hand.

Light blinked.

L just sat there, observing his actions.

"Who are you and what are you doing on my bed?" The student dropped his school bag, and eyed the figure suspiciously.

"Ah, how rude of me…" L hopped off the bed, and padded towards the boy. He reached out his hand, which Light shook (against his better judgment).

"It's nice to finally meet you, Light Yagami. I am L, but you can call me Ryuzaki. I hope to see you again shortly."

The hunched man wiped his hand on his faded jeans, and left, without another word.

Light did not move, and simply stood there for a long time before reacting.

"I see… My dad must have let you in…" He whispered to himself, his face thunderous. "L… I will kill you."

Later that day, when he'd regained his senses, he contemplated the fact that the man he saw could have been a stand in of some sort , for some kind of test. If he died that would prove that Light was Kira…but if he was who he said he was then…

Light grinned manically. It was perfect- just as he had planned. Now he could get close to the mysterious detective, and would eventually be able to eliminate him!


End file.
